When retiring Deputy Registrars took the platform at KNUST’s exit seminar on October 29 at the Amonoo-Neizer Auditorium, their reflections gave practical expression to an idea presented eight months earlier: the knowledge accumulated through years of university administration should remain with the institution after its custodians leave.

The idea began with a question about recognition and institutional memory. KNUST had an established tradition of inaugural lectures to celebrate academic achievement and preserve scholarly contributions. Could a similar platform document the policies, reforms and leadership lessons of its senior administrators?

Four administrators developed that question into a paper titled “End-of-Service Lecture Series for Registrars,” submitted to the Registrar on February 24, 2026.

They were Dr Paul Kwadwo Addo, Deputy Registrar and College Registrar of the College of Engineering; Mr Emmanuel Kwasi Debrah, Assistant Registrar at the University Relations Office; Mr Emmanuel Kofi Adjei, Assistant Registrar at the Faculty of Civil and Geo-Engineering; and Ms Judith Nana Agyeman-Prempeh, Junior Assistant Registrar at the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The paper proposed a structured platform for outgoing senior administrators to document their contributions and share lessons from their service.

Their starting point was a gap in how administrative experience was recognised and preserved. Senior officers helped shape statutes, develop policies, negotiate reforms and resolve institutional challenges, yet the reasoning behind that work could disappear when they retired.

Official records might preserve a decision. They would not necessarily explain the alternatives considered, the resistance encountered or the judgement required to reach it.

The proponents therefore sought a platform that would combine recognition of service with structured reflection, allowing experienced administrators to turn their work into lessons for colleagues and successors.

KNUST’s inaugural lecture framework offered a model. Its provisions for ceremony, publication and archival preservation demonstrated how individual contributions could become part of the University’s collective memory.

The proposal sought to extend that principle to administrative practice, arguing that policy development and institutional reform also required intellectual effort worthy of documentation and public recognition.

Under the suggested title, Institutional Stewardship Lecture, outgoing Registrars and Deputy Registrars would examine their contributions beyond a chronological account of appointments and achievements.

They would revisit significant policies and administrative proposals, explain the problems they sought to solve and assess their effects on the University. They would also reflect on leadership, ethical challenges, consensus-building and lessons for future reform.

The October 29 exit seminar brought the central idea into practice by providing retiring Deputy Registrars with a platform to share their experience and contributions with the University community.

The broader framework envisaged in the paper goes further. It proposes publishing lectures as special monographs, digitally archiving them in the University Library and depositing copies with the Records Unit.

These accounts would become resources for administrative training and mentorship, enabling younger officers to learn from the decisions, successes and difficulties of those who served before them.

The proponents also recommended an opportunity for already retired Registrars and Deputy Registrars to submit documented accounts of their service for consideration for publication and preservation.

The journey from the February proposal to the October seminar illustrates the purpose at the heart of the initiative: translating administrative ideas into practices that strengthen the institution.

For the four proponents, recognising retiring officers was only part of the ambition. The lasting value would lie in ensuring that their experience continued to serve KNUST after their departure.

“Paper to Practice” traces the people and ideas behind proposals that become practical initiatives shaping university life.